Brennenburg: Secrets Within
by pizmohbro
Summary: When I visited the old Brennenburg castle for a tour, curiosity got the best of me. I was trapped inside by the Shadow and Alexander, who were both out for blood and revenge, and had to find my way out. Little did I know that I wasn't the only one lost in the castle. This is a PewDiePie/Amnesia fan fiction. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

ONE

"BLARGGFLHEH!" the monster growled. He was gaining on me, much too quickly at that.

_Run, run, run, run, run, run and don't look back!_ My mind screamed. This was real, very real. My nightmares had been brought to life in the heart of this accursed castle.

As I moved as fast as my legs could carry me, I spotted a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor. _Yes!_ I whipped out a rusty key from the inside of my pocket, lunged at the door, and rushed through it. Once I was safely on the other side, I waited. The monster scratched at the impenetrable metal. He moaned in frustration, and then began to shuffle away in search of easier prey.

I sighed in relief and sank down to the floor. There was finally some time to evaluate my situation. My current inventory consisted of a broken lantern, three small oil bottles, two sanity potions, a fancy key, and a book full of notes and diary entries I collected around the castle earlier. No laudanum – just my luck. Grunting in discontent, I discarded the lantern. It would serve no further purpose. I would have to rely on my sensitive eyesight from now on…assuming that I wouldn't lose my glasses.

Upon close inspection, I noticed that the only things in this room were a fountain, some crumbled pillars, a large window, and a couple of winding stone staircases. I tried to stand in order to make use of the fountain that was located a mere five yards away, but now that there was no danger present, my mind was fully aware of pain. Fire immediately shot down my left leg when I regained my footing. I winced and limped over to the fountain anyway.

Once there, I sat on the marble edge of the shallow fountain and pulled up my jean leg. I regretted the decision all together – that monster had left a massive amount of damage when he hit me. The image of long, black claws flashed through my mind. I shuddered. Then I mustered up enough courage to clean the bleeding flesh with cold water, despite the pain it brought me. I found some cloth in my bag that I used as a wrap for my leg.

My injury tended to, I took a good look at my reflection. It was amazing how much my appearance had changed during one week of this hell. My hair, which once cascaded down my back in beautiful light brown waves, was now chopped in various places and frayed at the tips – I had a run-in with a butcher knife monster earlier on; perhaps it would be ideal to tie my hair back to prevent further damage. My skin had lost all color. I looked like a ghost. My lashes were surprisingly still long and dark. My large brown eyes, however, had grown much more intense. I could probably burn a hole through someone's head simply by staring.

Sighing again, I stood up. There was no use waiting around. It was time to move on and escape from this infernal place.

About an hour and a half after my run-in with the monster, I found myself lost in the east wing on the second floor. I was in some sort of library. Some of the books inside were useful. I came across one called The Gatherers. It contained several pictures of the monsters I had seen so far, along with some new ones. I figured it would give me all the information I needed to outwit them, so I placed it in my bag.

Rummaging through shelves of papyrus scrolls landed me a map of the castle. A quick examination told me that I was close to the stairs. All I had to do was cut a left from the library, head down a long corridor, and the stairs would be right there. Simple.

_Easy_, my conscience warned me,_ that's the kind of thinking that made you run into the monster the first time. This place is dangerous_. I never questioned my conscience in unfamiliar situations. It was always right...except when it wasn't. But I knew that it would save my life in the end this time, even if I did somehow get into trouble.

I rolled up the map and placed it into my bag, next to the book. Slowly, I reached out towards the door. It swung open by itself. I poked my head out of the doorway, glancing left and right. No sign of any kind of monster. Cautiously, I took the first step. So far so good. I turned left and began to creep my way down the hall with a slight limp.

I only made it a few feet before I heard the shriek of another human being.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

I whirled around, completely alert. The screaming grew louder. It sounded like the screeching of a male human being...either that, or a banshee on a rampage. But no, it couldn't be. I thought for sure that I was alone in the castle. Who else could possibly be trapped inside? Who else could share the burden that had been heaved upon me the moment I stepped through the tall wooden doors at the entrance?

"STEPHANOOOOOO!" the man, or whatever it was, screamed. Stephano? Were there two victims rapidly approaching instead of just one? What was the Baron playing at, sending two innocent prey directly my way? What difficult task would this turn out to be?

Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall burst open. A tall, thin figure flew straight at me. Our bodies collided and I was instantly on the ground, writhing in pain. Blood roared in my ears. My leg was on fire. Despite the horrendous agony I felt, I was still able to realize that the creature was indeed human. A very clumsy human, at that.

"Get off," I coughed.

He probably didn't hear me over his rather loud groaning. It took a while for him to take note that he had crashed into a fellow person. The man scrambled onto his feet while I continued to struggle for air. I rolled onto my stomach. Then I crawled over to the dry wall, which surprisingly served as good momentary body support.

The stranger mumbled an apology. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Its touch was warm, much like a glowing ember in the hearth. He pulled me onto my feet. Again, pain rippled throughout my nervous system. The prickling sensation it left behind caused me to whimper involuntarily. The man shifted slightly.

"What happened to your leg?" he asked in an unfamiliar European accent. His voice was slightly raspy and almost high pitched, yet it seemed a bit soft when he spoke. It didn't quite add up in my head. None of that appeared logical. It wouldn't help me much to push my mind in its current condition, so I let it go.

I shook my head in response, indicating my incapability of speech. The man slung his arm around my waist - which felt extremely awkward, mind you - and helped me somewhere. As much as I wanted to break away and walk on my own, I simply didn't have the strength.

An ashy scent began to waft through the air. Heat flitted past my face. The new location had a fireplace, no doubt. We must have been in a living or guest room near the library.

Sir Clumsy set me down carefully. Wood flooring and a shaggy rug lay underneath me. The fire was close - I could feel the warmth of its flames in my legs. I clenched my jaw when he touched my leg. The stranger hesitated immediately.

"May I?" he queried.

"Please," I begged in a hushed whisper.

He proceeded. I opened my eyes, somewhat surprised that I hadn't noticed myself squeezing them shut in the first place, to watch him. It was quite shocking to see a handsome male unwrapping the gauze around my leg. His stunning blue eyes never lost focus of the bloody cloth. He reached up and brushed long, dirty blonde locks away from his thin face.

"Who...who are you?" I questioned in utter bewilderment, less aware of pain than I was before.

He made eye contact for a brief second. Then he replied, "I'm Felix."

Felix - what an interesting name. This Felix couldn't have been more than twenty-five years old. Twenty-two was my best guess, due to his lanky body and facial stubble. Blonde hair and blue eyes were clear characteristics of Aryans. Felix must have been from northern Europe. No wonder his accent didn't ring a bell. I never had much contact with the northern Europeans - just the western ones.

"What's your last name, Felix?"

"Kjellberg." Aha. He was either Finnish or Swedish.

Felix finally managed to unwrap my leg. He grimaced at its shredded condition. The European reached into his pocket. A green and silver bottle was revealed to be inside that pocket. Felix handed it to me and told me to drink it. I obeyed without protest.

Once the medicine went down, I leaned back with my eyes closed. Felix moved around nearby.

"Where are you from?" came his soft voice.

I exhaled. "America, unfortunately. I'm Portuguese."

"Oh, hey, that's pretty cool. I'm from Sweden."

I smiled to myself. _Totally nailed it._

We were both silent for a while. I listened to Felix rummaging through his own supplies. The comforting clanks of a lantern could be heard. How I missed my lantern. The soft glow of its light was enough company to render me unafraid of the crushing darkness. Not enough attention could be paid to such a useful tool. It was unbelievable how much I took it for granted before. I regretted ever risking my lantern to distract the monster in the first place.

A clinking glass pulled me away from my thoughts. "Nej!" Felix whispered harshly. At the moment, I didn't really care about whatever it was that klutz broke. However, it did make me suspicious when he abruptly asked, "How old are you?"

"Fifteen," I answered just to humor him.

Felix was dead silent for a moment. "Seriously, how old are you?"

"Fifteen. I'm not joking."

"Really? You look older. I thought you were seventeen at first."

"If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me, I'd be a millionaire."

The Swede took another minute before asking, "How's your name?"

"Marisa Oliveira is my name," I responded, ignoring his mistake. His English wasn't perfect, it seemed, but he could communicate just fine. "It's nice to meet you, Felix." We shook hands briefly. He was quiet for a long time.

"That's….a nice name," he finally mumbled with averted eyes. I held my tongue. My excellent sense of empathy told me that Felix was experiencing an emotional turmoil. It would probably be best to leave him be.

The silence that ensued was enough to super-charge my brain. My body shut down as thoughts of today's events raced through my mind. They quickly swirled into a mass of colors. The colors were memories, memories that I had been able to retain after entering the castle - memories that kept me human.

_I lay in the grass in Portugal's beautiful countryside and gazed at the stars. The Big Dipper shone proudly up above. It reminded me how insignificant I was compared to the rest of the universe. The universe itself felt like one giant system. Everything in it worked together to maintain balance, and all that tried to disrupt that balance was eliminated by some means. The universe...it was like a living, breathing organism. The stars were its cells, the planets its organs. At the center rested the sun, heart of the universe, the very thing that kept the organism alive._

_But what of other dimensions, ones with their own living universes? How mighty and powerful were they compared to this one? What guardians and evils did they harbor?_

I woke up with a jolt. My leg stung a bit. A quick look told me that it had healed while I slept. All that remained was a scar and dry blood. I stood with caution. No sear of pain, no burning flames shot down my shin. Wonderful, I could walk again.

"That's looking better," Felix abruptly remarked. He surprised me. I half expected him to be gone.

"Yeah. It is," I answered quietly. Then I gave him a sideways glance. Felix wasn't even looking at me. He watched the dancing fire in the hearth. His eyes flickered between the orange flames and a dark mark in the palm of his left hand. It was a burn. "Do you need something for that?"

He flexed his hand a couple of times and looked up. "No. I drank some la...ladanadum. It doesn't hurt anymore." Ladanadum? I thought for a moment. Then it hit me: laudanum. 'English impaired' was probably one of the best descriptions I could give of Felix at the moment.

Sighing, I went to do some recon at the door. Upon close inspection, I noticed some large white skid marks in the hall. I saw a green flash, my vision turned black and white, and suddenly I was watching as a monster with a wheel around its neck dragged chains across the floor. It moaned and cried. Perhaps it was in pain, or maybe it was being tormented by something. I couldn't see its face, but I did recognize the cogwheel around its neck.

The monster wandered into the area where Felix had been running and screaming and disappeared. My vision returned to normal and the green light flashed again. Okay, that was totally normal. I had seen this type of vision before, multiple times, usually just moments before being attacked by the monster I had seen in the vision. This time couldn't be any different.

I rushed back to Felix and insisted, "We have to move. Now." Felix looked at me with dulled eyes and a slight frown. That expression really played with my sympathies. "What's wrong?"

He sighed, "My friend sacrificed himself while we were being chased. He was captured, and I don't know where they took him."

I knitted my brow together in thought. Then, I remembered. "You mean Stephano?"

The Swede's face suddenly lit up. "You've seen him?"

"No, I heard you scream his name. But I'll help you find him."

"You will?" he asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes. I think I may know where he is. We'll find him, I promise. Then we can escape from this castle," I replied confidentially.

He appeared doubtful about that last part. "I don't know about that. I've been trapped here for a month. I don't know how to get out."

"Listen," I protested, "neither of us can do this alone. But together, we might just be able to get out of here. What do you say? Shall we team up and fight until we escape?"

Felix gave me a lopsided grin. He shook my hand. "Agreed."

"Great," I laughed nervously, "we should head downstairs before a monster finds us-"

"_Is that you, my love?_"

Too late.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

The hairs on the back of my neck instantly stood on end. Felix squeaked and backed into a corner. He began to mutter to himself.

"Shhh…." I hushed him quietly from the center of the room. My blood pressure dropped slowly, as expected. It's a defense mechanism - when I need to react in a dangerous situation, I fall into a calm, cool-headed state. It allows me to think properly and quickly. Of course, it only lasts until I experience physical pain. This was one of those situations.

While Felix cowered nearby, it occurred to me that I could pull out _The Gatherers_ for a quick study on the monster patrolling in the hallway. I flipped through several pages until I came across the beast just outside the door. Its appearance from the front was appalling. The thing had no eyes, a giant cogwheel around its neck, and chains hanging from its thin body. It almost looked like a skeleton with only the flesh left over.

_The Suitor is an extremely dangerous enemy, even without eyes. it has an acute sense of hearing and is capable of knocking a human unconscious with one blow to the head. It is also capable of human speech and will attempt to communicate. This monster moves very fast and has poor eyesight, so hiding and sneaking are effective tactics - so long as they are done with stealth and caution. The Suitor is a tormented soul that comes in three different personalities and names. The first is the dedicated lover, Aloïs. The second is the enraged Basile. Finally, the third is the psychotic Malo. Of the three, Malo has the greatest sense of hearing, Aloïs the least. The cogwheel around the Suitor's neck prevents sleep, and the chains on its body restrict movement. This monster is in fact human, simply disfigured through the twisted experiments of a sadistic Frenchwoman named Justine. The Suitor is the rarest of the monsters. Though this is true, they should be avoided at all costs._

Well, that was actually rather informative. Our pursuer was clearly Aloïs. Good to know. Silently, I closed the book and placed it back inside my bag. The Suitor's chains continued to rattle in the hall. Felix made a sound not found in nature.

The Suitor must have heard it, but as I understood it, he didn't pick up on our location. "_…Where did you go? Come back…!_"

As much as I wanted to wonder what Justine did to the poor thing, now was not the time for pity.

I stealthily made my way over to where Felix was hiding. His face was towards the wall. He whimpered, "Anything but him...not the penis monster, no…"

Once again, I sympathized with the guy - though I did question his word choice. I pushed my feelings aside immediately. We had to move. There was no way I could make my presence known to Felix without scaring the hell out of him. A decision was made.

"_Mmmmffffmm!_" he tried to scream when I slapped a hand over his mouth. Felix watched me like a cornered animal. He calmed down for a second, then appeared a little angry.

I whispered, "Yell at me for scaring you later. We need to get past the monster." My stare willed him to keep quiet. The Swede seemed to forget about what I did and nodded his head in agreement. I retracted my hand and proceeded to grab his wrist. Felix and I creeped towards the open door.

The monster wheezed in despair, "_Why did this happen?_" Just then, his shadow came into view. I gasped suddenly and pulled Felix closer to me. We put our backs to the wall in wait. The Suitor shook his chains. He was too close to the doorway, much too close. Felix shook in fear next to me. I squeezed his wrist in reassurance. It was a tense moment, but the Suitor eventually decided to take a walk. The sounds of chains being dragged across the floor grew fainter.

"Let's move…" I breathed. Felix followed closely behind when I crouched and travelled in the opposite direction of the Suitor. So far so good.

Then: disaster. Felix sneezed. I turned to look at the monster down the hall in terror. It stopped in its tracks. "_You came for me!_" Aloïs exclaimed happily. He began to rush towards us.

"Felix! Run!" I screamed. Thus began the chase.

As we ran as fast as we could, I could hear my companion shrieking, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHH SHHHHHHHHHIT!"

I felt a rush when I saw the wooden door at the end of the hall. This was it. A smile plastered itself across my face for some insane reason. The door swung open once I pulled the handle. Felix ran through first and I slammed it shut behind me. We dashed around the corner while the Suitor attempted to bust down the door. _Stupid monster. Doesn't know how to use a handle_, I thought to myself.

The stairs appeared around that corner. Felix took the steps two by two and I took the railing. We continued to run after we reached the landing, even though it didn't sound like the monster was chasing us anymore. He must have given up at the door.

A few minutes later, Felix and I were out of breath. We stopped to rest. I absorbed the surroundings: boxes and barrels piled high in the corners, and shelves stocked with random knick knacks and some pretty useful looking bottles. It would appear that we wandered into a storage room in the western wing of the castle. There was no way that monster could be hanging around. We ran all the way across the castle.

Abruptly, Felix shouted, "BARRELS! It's all your fault, you little fuckers!" He angrily threw the barrels everywhere in the room, leaving no barrel on its proper base. It bothered me a bit that he was blaming inanimate objects for our troubles, but I dismissed it. After all, I have a high tolerance for weird.

I grabbed a candle from a shelf and sat down against the wall. Felix looted the shelves of any useful goodies and joined me shortly afterwards. He handed me his lantern. "I think you should be in charge of the lantern. I waste too much oil."

"Alright, then." I extinguished the lantern. Then I used a tinderbox to light the candle I took from the shelf. The candle cast an eerie glow over the store room. Felix looked a little creepy with the lighting. He wagged his eyebrows at me as a joke. I stifled a laugh.

He watched the little flame dance as he had done in the guest room earlier on. Only this time, he wasn't emotionally troubled. Felix almost seemed cheerful.

"That was crazy…" he chuckled to himself. I grinned a little. "Wanna do it again?"

"Screw that, I want to see Mr. Face and give him a piece of my mind for messing up my leg," I replied. He giggled like a young girl.

Then he said, "You know, you aren't half bad for fifteen years old."

"Thanks. I find it weird that you're twenty-two and scared of monsters."

"Yeah, it's a little embarrassing." Felix gave me a funny look. "But I never told you how old I am-"

"Lucky guess, I suppose," I interrupted to throw him off. He was silent for a while. I stole a peek at him - he was fast asleep. Felix must have been exhausted to be able to fall asleep that fast. I wish I didn't have to sleep. That's when my fears chased after me.

I sighed in deep thought and muttered to myself, "Shadow...what do you want from me? Why send a poofer just to scare me?"

_You knew there was no threat?_

"Yes," I whispered with my eyes closed.

_But you were frightened._

"Yes," I repeated and nodded off as rapidly as Felix had.


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

_"How the hell do you open this?"_

_I rolled my eyes up to the dull sky and took the plastic thermos from my cousin. It couldn't be opened by simply twisting the cap - pressure was necessary. I pushed down on the top and rotated the lid. The lid screwed off easily._

_"Here," I said, handing the thermos back to him, "try not to spill your water, now."_

_He laughed sarcastically. Then he took a deep swig. The eighteen year old proceeded to seal the thermos once more. He gave it back to me and I put it in my shoulder bag._

_"Renel, do you have any idea where we're going?" I asked, smiling devilishly._

_He pretended to think for a moment. "Ah, not really, no."_

_I groaned in annoyance. "Well, do you want to know?"_

_"Sure."_

_"The castle of Brennenberg."_

_"Never heard of it."_

_"...Of course not."_

_The two of us continued to walk. England was under the weather that day - quite literally. Thick, gray clouds hung low above us. The humidity was unbearable. It made me feel like I was being choked. As if this country didn't have enough rain already, it was the beginning of a slight drizzle. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Why did people say England was a great tourism location if it was constantly pouring? I would never understand the English._

_Anyway, my cousin and I had visited Mayfair during summer vacation a while ago and heard about a castle not too far away. Renel obviously had no idea what was going on, as he was always lost in his own little world, but I thought it would be a fantastic artistic opportunity for me._

_Little did I know that I would soon be trapped within its eroding walls._

_And so here we were, hiking up a gentle slope towards the castle._

_"Marisaaaaa," Renel whined my name in Portuguese, "slow down a little."_

_I sighed impatiently. We were almost at the summit, but my cousin was already out of energy. He really needed more exercise._

_"God damn! Hurry up!" I exclaimed once I saw just how far behind he was. Renel jogged the rest of the way. Just up ahead was a small sign with a picture of the castle on it. Words were inscribed underneath it in Latin._

_Renel and I cautiously moved forward. Using what snippets of knowledge I had about latin, I managed to read something like, "Brennenberg forward. Danger." My cousin and I exchanged curious glances. How peculiar. I took a step past the sign. The atmosphered dropped instantly. Something wasn't right._

_"Uh...I don't know about this," my conscience spoke for me._

_"Are you kidding me? Come on!" Renel grunted and pulled me forward. A giant shape loomed in the distance._

_That shape turned out to be the castle. It looked like any ordinary castle. Huh. Was I missing something here? No matter. I knelt on one knee and pulled out my sketchbook and pencil. A burst of inspiration surged through me. Sketching commenced immediately after._

_"Marisa, I'll be right back. My bladder is gonna explode," my cousin announced._

_"You want to say that louder so all of Europe can hear you?"_

_"Shut the hell up."_

_I snickered quietly. His footsteps faded away and I heard him crashing through the bushes. Then, absolute silence. It was peaceful, yet eerie. The castle began to lose its average appearance. I continued to observe and sketch. The stone was wearing away, leaving behind some yellow chemical. Ivy crawled over the walls and towards the top. A pink substance oozed between the cobblestone blocks-_

_Wait, what?_

_I moved closer. There was definitely some gross-looking pink stuff clinging to the wall. I poked it with my eraser. The substance receded for a split second, and then formed a bubble. Ew._

_An object suddenly glinted in the non-existent sunlight nearby. It caught my eye right away. I crouched to get a better look at it. The item appeared to be a small shard of glass. I picked it up. The shard was incredibly lightweight. It had a powerful aura, but there was also something awfully ominous about it._

_"Come closer."_

_I whipped around in time to find absolutely no one. Where did that voice come from? Paranoia slowly made its way into my mind._

_"Who's there?" I called weakly, limbs shaking slightly._

_"My name is Alexander. You have found a piece of my orb. Return it to me."_

_My muscles tightened and I felt a burn of pain in my hand. Looking down, I saw blood dripping from my closed fist. I pried it open. The shard of glass, now covered in my own blood, glowed softly._

_Suddenly, I felt myself being pulled towards the castle entrance. Enormous wooden doors creaked open. The overwhelming urge to step inside overtook me. My actions were no longer controlled by me. In I went, completely helpless._

"Marisa."

_What was happening to me? Who was Alexander? My heart pounded hard enough so that I could hear it. My blood pressure soared. Thoughts flowed through my mind like butter. My legs carried me down a long hallway. The doors slammed shut behind me and growl echoed throughout. My mind screamed at me in full blown panic. But I couldn't run. I couldn't escape._

"Marisa?"

_The entire castle shook. Pebbles rained down on me. Darkness closed in rapidly. I turned involuntarily. A tall figure stalked around the entrance. The thing appeared to notice me. My heart dropped. It limped towards me. I tried to scream when I was able to make out the features of this horrid, mutilated creature, but my voice stuck in my throat. The creature growled and waved its sharp, black claws at me. Finally, I regained the ability to move on my own. I ran in the opposite direction, still unable to shout. The monster groaned behind me. He was chasing me._

"Marisa! Wake up!"

My eyes flew open. I lashed out at a dark figure hovering above me. It cried out sharply and then moaned in pain. It took me a few minutes of gasping for air to realize that I had just socked Felix in the chest. He rocked back and forth, rubbing the spot that hurt him. I still couldn't speak, even though the nightmare was over.

"Owowow...that was a hard punch," Felix coughed.

I managed to find my voice and panted, "I'm sorry…"

He waved off my apology. Felix recovered quickly and examined me. My chest continued to heave. That nightmare. It was the fifth time I had it. No, it didn't scare me. It was just a solemn reminder of the day the castle drew me in and trapped me. Many tasks lay ahead of me, and I had no idea where to start.

"We should probably move. A monster could have heard you screaming," he said, surveying me with his blue eyes.

I had been screaming?

Felix grabbed my hand. He pulled me onto my feet and handed me the lantern. I composed myself within a minute and led the Swede out of the room without using the lantern. My eyes adjusted to the dark until I could identify outlines and shapes.

We wandered around aimlessly for a while in search of Stephano. I crept around a corner with Felix behind me and saw an iron gate up ahead. The two of us moved towards it stealthily. A sign next to the door read, "Prison," in Latin. Behind the gate, a long corridor dimly illuminated by torches sprawled out without a single turn. There were probably stairs at the end of the hall. This is what I had been looking for.

"This is the entrance to the prison," I informed Felix.

The Swede groaned, "Well, isn't that just wonderful!"

"Oh, hush. I think Stephano might be down there. We have to check."

Felix opened his mouth to something, but was cut off by a loud screech. It sounded like it came from the prison. I turned on the lantern. Immediately, I noticed a golden liquid trailing down the hall that led to the prison cells at our feet.

I looked back up at Felix. His face was completely pale. "Was that him?"

"Y-yeah. We should probably get in there."

"Agreed." I put out the lantern and shoved the gate open with my foot. It swung out with a soft squeak. Before I took one step, Felix took my hand. Sighing, I allowed him to take comfort in physical contact and pulled him along.

_We're coming, Stephano._

We weren't halfway to the stairs at the end of the hall when the castle began to rumble. A monstrous roar of outrage echoed in the castle. All the torches went out. Felix whimpered in fear. My palm seared in pain. I winced loudly and set down the lantern to take a quick peek - it was bleeding. Then I reached into my bag and pulled out the colored shard of glass. It was warm and glowed softly, just as it had when I first found it.

_Alexander, you fool! My wrath will be fierce!_

My head throbbed. Felix whined like a frightened puppy. All at once, everything returned to normal. The pain I felt diminished and the torches came back on. The shard of glass ceased to glow. My hand still dripped blood, but it felt fine. I slipped the shard back into my bag and grabbed the lantern.

"Come on," I commanded without hesitation. Felix walked close enough to me so that our arms constantly kept contact. He was scared. His body was cold. I stopped in my tracks. A sigh passed through my lips. My protective instinct took over - I set the lantern down again and threw my arms around Felix's waist. The Swede tensed in surprise at first, but he soon realized that I was willingly hugging him and squeezed me so hard that I thought I would choke. In the middle of the hug, I managed to squeak, "Felix, I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

"I feel like I should be saying that to you. I'm older," he replied jokingly. That put a smile on my face. We broke off and continued on.

That was my second promise to him. Another task for me to throw onto the scale. Oh well. There was no turning away from it now.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

"This corridor is too long...I don't like it," Felix muttered under his breath. I still heard him. His constant rambling was going to drive me crazy. Not unless, of course, the Shadow pushed me over the edge first.

Speaking of the Shadow, red goo squeezed through cracks in the walls after it roared in fury. It was the creature's way of telling me to hurry. I had to fulfill my promises to Felix before I could carry on with my original mission. The Shadow knew Felix was here in the castle. It wasn't just pure luck and bursts of weak brain power that kept Felix alive - the Shadow was helping him. The Swede had no idea, but I knew. He wouldn't be able to survive down here on his own. Felix had no business in this castle. That's why the Shadow allowed me to help him escape.

At the same time, I knew that Alexander was making plans. He used his servants to drive the two of us together. Felix was a pawn in a complex game of chess, and so was I. I just wondered what he was planning on doing with Felix. Though I can't say I was particularly fond of him, I still felt obligated to find Felix's safety. He didn't need to die here...I did.

Another scream sliced through the air, distracting me from my thoughts. Felix cringed and grabbed my elbow. Stephano was running out of precious time. I broke into a run, dragging Felix along behind me. The damp cobblestone hallway only seemed to grow longer. There appeared to be no end. The trail of golden liquid thickened with each stride. The torches were less and less capable of lighting our path; I eventually was forced to turn on the lantern. It bobbed and swung wildly in front us like a beacon.

We finally reached a stone staircase. Felix was about to rush down the steps when I skidded to a stop. He jerked forward, still holding onto my arm. I had to pull him back to prevent him from falling and breaking his neck.

"What now?" he asked after regaining his balance.

"We don't know what's down there yet. Be careful," I cautioned.

Felix growled, "I don't care." He proceeded to head on downstairs. I stood there like an idiot until he disappeared from view.

Half of me simply wanted to say, _alright, but it's his funeral_, and return to my tasks. Unfortunately, my heart speaks louder than my brain. I followed him into the darkness below. The Swede waited for me to catch up once he realized I wielded the only source of light.

He led the way this time with me on his heels. As we walked, my thoughts traveled again. Felix had been perfectly prepared to go off on his lonesome. Where did that courage come from? Or was it something greater? I fell into an even deeper level of thought. Perhaps it wasn't courage, but loyalty that gave this man a drive. Stephano was his friend, after all. Judging by the information I had collected about the two, they must have been very close friends. I certainly hoped Stephano was the brains of the duo, because if he was, I wouldn't have to escort him and Felix to an exit.

"What monster took your friend?" I abruptly questioned.

Felix replied, "The bro."

"The...bro?"

"Yeah. The one with the claws."

"Ah."

It was way beyond me why Felix would call that thing a 'bro,' but it didn't really matter. The monster he identified was the Grunt, better known as Flappy Face - at least by me. The Grunts served Alexander, which meant that the Baron had ordered Stephano's capture. Stephano would be locked in a cell with higher security, and iron padlock, perhaps. There was only a tiny chance of running into patrolling monsters, mostly because Alexander wanted us to rescue Stephano. For what, I didn't yet know.

Speaking of jail cells, a few began to appear just up ahead. These were the small, insignificant ones, so I told Felix we didn't have to check them. The Swede returned the lantern to me promptly, timidly stating he didn't want to lead anymore. A glimmer of fear was present in his eyes.

I tugged Felix along by his arm and queried curiously, "Have you been down here before?"

"This is where I started."

That's why he was afraid. I didn't dwell on it, though, because I needed to focus on finding the right cell. But I did allow myself to wonder: how did he start inside a _prison_?

The path soon came to a fork. I glanced left and right, unsure of what we should do. Felix muttered to himself in Swedish. His eyes flickered between the two passages. The passages looked exactly alike. The golden trail had ended at our feet. There was no way of knowing which direction to take. My mind spun in hopeless confusion. What to do?

"I think we should go that way," Felix announced confidently, his eyes squinted and finger pointed towards the left.

I raised a brow, wondering what made him think that was the right way. "Oh?"

He nodded and explained, "Yeah. Look at the ground. There's no gold, but it looks like someone was walking here."

I knelt to examine the flooring. Felix was right. A thin layer of pebbles rested atop the cobblestone. In the center of the hall, there were depressions in the layer of tiny rocks that took the form of footprints, each one slightly larger than my own. I also found a piece of cloth in one of the footprints - a bloody bandage. The Grunt had passed through here. I glanced up at Felix. His face was set in determination. How had he noticed the clues when I hadn't? Was there something wrong with me, or did Felix actually have a brain hiding from the world inside that head of his?

Instead of searching for a potential answer, I focused on the task at hand. Felix had begun to walk ahead of me, so I took larger strides with my long legs to catch up. He stayed quiet during our entire trip down the left passage - he didn't mumble in Swedish, blame barrels for our troubles, or even curse. Not once. His jaw was clenched in such a way that reminded me of my cousin playing hardcore video games. Believe me, that was some serious determination.

"Marisa, can I ask you a personal question?" Felix queried out of the blue.

I eyed him suspiciously. Carefully, I replied, "...Okay, but only one."

"You seem so mature for your age."

"Yes, but what's the question?"

"Why?"

I thought about how I could explain without revealing too much. Then I tore my gaze away from his steady blue eyes in preparation for my response. "I just...grew up too fast."

Felix stopped walking. I continued on, anticipating that he wanted to ask me something else. I really didn't want to turn this into an actual conversation. The Swede could only watch as the distance between us grew wider. His hurried footsteps echoed in the hall until he caught up. Out of breath, he asked, "What happened?"

"Enough. You were only allowed one question. Let's move on, alright?"

Felix fell silent, probably hurt by my curtness. I couldn't be bothered to care. No one would ever be able to understand me. That's why I pushed people away. That was my flaw.

The awkward silence didn't last long, however. We soon wandered into an open chamber. I shut off the lantern and lit some of the torches on the walls. In the room was a large cell door decorated with a strange locking mechanism, a control panel lined with levers, and a pipe system on the ceiling that may or may not have been the control of the lock.

I examined the door. It seemed heavy and didn't have a padlock. The locking mechanism appeared to be a series of thin pipes with buttons on either end. Pushing one of the buttons led me to hear a faint click coming from within the door.

"Come here. I think this is a puzzle."

I walked over to the control panel at the far wall where Felix was checking out the levers. None of the levers were missing, thank goodness. This was definitely a puzzle. A tricky one, at that. I would probably be able to solve it without too much of a problem. The levers controlled circuits that ran into the pipes in the ceiling, which ultimately changed the pattern on the door. The right buttons on the door needed to be pressed against each other. The only issue was figuring out the correct combination.

I strolled around the small chamber to make sure there weren't any loopholes to this puzzle. Everything seemed to be in order: no secret buttons or levers. There was nothing out of the ordinary hiding in the chamber.

I suddenly heard a series of clicking and grinding. "Shit. Did I just fuck this up?" came Felix's voice.

"Felix!" I hissed from across the room, "Don't touch anything!"

He threw his hands up in surrender and backed away from the controls. I took his place immediately, wanting to open the cell door with the least amount of mistakes as possible. Honestly, from what I had seen so far, Felix wasn't exactly the best person to have around in a situation like this. He didn't possess the talent to think with logic like I did. It was nothing personal, I just thought that we needed to rescue Stephano as quickly as we could.

I underwent the process of puzzle-solving once Felix was out of the way. My mind blocked out everything but the puzzle. I examined the levers. They were all labeled with Roman numerals one to ten. A sign above the controls read, "Trimurti. Life. Death. Preservation." I recognized Trimurti as the Hindu Trinity. The lever must have been number three. The only suspicious thing was the fact that there was a reference to the Hindu gods in a castle of England - a castle in which everything was written in Latin.

I pulled the lever marked "III" anyway. The pipes shook over our heads, and I heard a series of clicking along with a metal grinding. My gaze landed on Felix, who was slowly reaching for the door. He pulled it open cautiously. The only sound to be heard was the squeaking hinges as the door swung open.

"Stephano?" Felix called weakly. He peeked inside the cell. Then the Swede waved me over. We both slinked into the cell. I looked around. The one-room cell was empty except for a pool of golden liquid, a bottle, a note, and a small golden statue of a man wielding a scimitar. A red light flashed before me while Felix picked up the statue and proceeded to say, "Stephano, what happened to you? Come on, talk to me."

"Is this some kind of joke?" I demanded in outrage. Felix gawked at me, obviously confused. "You wasted my time, and for what? A little statue?"

The Swede realized what I was going on about not a moment too soon. He yammered, "No, no! This is Stephano. He talks, listen!"

The lantern rattled in my hands as my entire body quivered with rage. I jammed my fist into my bag and pulled out a bottle of sanity potion. Felix shot me a questioning look. I sighed in an attempt to calm my anger. "Felix, drink this, please. You've been in this castle for too long. It's time to leave."

"No!" he snapped at me. The sharp tone of his voice alone was enough to make me blink in surprise. "I'm not crazy. Something is wrong here…"

"Fine. I'll wait for you outside, then."

I left the cell after that, wondering if I should just leave Felix to fend for himself. It was amazing how long he had survived in the castle on his own. He must have been one lucky man. Even I wouldn't be able to make it without the Shadow on my side. In a place like this, one needed an ally - all the more reason to stay with him. Perhaps Felix imagined the statue could talk and named him Stephano so that he wouldn't be alone. Either that, or he was just completely mental.

In the middle of my train of thought, I felt a hand on my shoulder. At first I assumed it was Felix, so I spun on my heel, fully prepared to eat him alive for sending us both on a wild goose chase. What I actually saw wasn't Felix, but a huge shock. Instead of meeting a pair of gentle blue yes, my gaze fell on a pair of piercing green eyes. A thin man wearing an Arabian tunic surveyed my face with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Everything about him - except for his eyes - was golden. Everything. His hair, his scimitar, his tunic, and even his skin were all gold.

Felix emerged from the cell in the background, a wild smile playing on his lips. The golden man held up the very note and bottle that had been resting on the floor inside the jail cell for me to behold.

"You have to be smarter than my friend for being able to track me down. But why didn't you read the instructions? Isn't that what smart people are supposed to do?" the golden man chuckled in a rough voice. He had a thick French accent.

I gaped at him and struggled to make my voice heard, "Yes, but...we can be arrogant, too."

The man gave me a lop-sided grin. He said, "You seem to be in denial that I am standing right in front of you. That I exist."

It couldn't be.

"Allow me to introduce myself."

There was just no way.

"'Ellos. I am Stephano."


End file.
